25 Kindle Unlimited Books That You Won’t Be Able to Put Down
Updated: Aug. 11, 2023Need some amazing new reading material? These Kindle Unlimited books are just what you’re looking for—in all your favorite genres.
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The best Kindle Unlimited books to download now
If you’re a binge reader, a bookworm, or you just love having a huge selection of the best books at your fingertips, you need Kindle Unlimited in your life. This affordable Amazon subscription service will allow you to access more than a million digital books and “check out” up to 20 at a time to read on your preferred device. It’s exciting—but it can also be a bit overwhelming. After all, that’s a lot of books to choose from. Of course, we’re here to help with this list of the best Kindle Unlimited books that are definitely worth your time.
In the mood for a romance novel? Or maybe an amazing new mystery or the latest beloved teen book? (Hey, there’s nothing wrong with a good guilty pleasure!) We’ve got the top picks in a wide range of book genres, from historical fiction to fantasy. We narrowed things down by focusing on best sellers, award winners, and fan favorites that have everyone buzzing, as well as a few classics you shouldn’t miss. So, put away that stack of books on your nightstand, save a whole bunch of cash, and start downloading! And if you have your eye on a book that isn’t offered through this service, check out the best places to find free books online.
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1. Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
This is one of those Kindle Unlimited books that catches your attention early and doesn’t let go until the last page. Two grown daughters think their mother is a cold, uncaring woman, but when their father falls ill, they learn the truth about their mom’s unimaginable life. You’ll find yourself immersed in the history of the siege of Leningrad during World War II and swept up in a family drama and love story, which was first published 2010. Here are more books by female authors you won’t be able to put down.
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2. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
This classic, dystopian tour de force was first published in 1986, and you’re probably aware that it’s been adapted into a hit TV series. Atwood creates a world that takes the bible at its word, forcing women who can bear children to become handmaids to fascist commanders and their weird, cruel wives. This is a chilling, all-too-real examination of puritanical patriarchy—and one of the best Kindle Unlimited books if you’re in the mood for a modern classic you haven’t read yet.
3. The Murmur of Bees by Sofía Segovia
Amazon Kindle Books Unlimited includes this recent popular novel translated from Spanish and published in 2019. Set in Mexico during the 1918 influenza pandemic and the Mexican Revolution, The Murmur of Bees tells the story of an abandoned baby, found beneath a bridge surrounded by bees, who grows up with the ability to see the future. Readers love the compelling story and the evocative prose in this story of love and faith by a Latinx author who will become one of your new favorites.
4. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
This stunning apocalyptic science fiction novel, first published in 1993, is set in the now-not-so-distant year 2024. Society is in disarray due to climate change and social breakdown, and life is bleak and dangerous—even more so for one teenage girl named Lauren after a fire destroys her family’s compound. The story is told through Lauren’s journal entries, in which she chronicles the perils of a disintegrating world from beyond the walls of her gated community and as she joins with other refugees to find a safe haven.
5. Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
In this harrowing novel, translated from Spanish and first published in 2017, you’ll enter a dystopian future after the “Transition,” where society has switched from eating animals to eating humans. Horrifying yet completely riveting, this popular book exposes capitalism’s violence through unsparing details of humans bred and slaughtered for food—and what happens when one man starts to question this new normal. For the latest books everyone’s talking about, try joining one of these online book clubs.
6. The Humans by Matt Haig
If you’re a fan of sci-fi, you’ll love this novel about an alien sent to Earth to destroy a recent discovery that humans should not have access to. The alien, who has taken on the human form of the professor who made the discovery, finds himself unable to carry out his duties and instead immerses himself in a new life as the professor. Despite initially being repulsed by people, the alien learns that he kind of likes them as well. Readers love the witty writing that captures the human spirit with easy-to-read wonder. If you love books that make you laugh, these funny books should be on your must-read list.
7. Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
Kindle Unlimited includes Diane Setterfield’s evocative fairy tale–like novel about a young girl found dead who miraculously returns to life. The local townspeople marvel at the mystery of her identity—and three different families make a claim that she belongs to them. Readers rave about the sumptuous prose and whimsical magic in this 2018 page-turner.
8. Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah
A woman reeling from loss and a devastating diagnosis returns to her previous interest in birds, and dives back in to the topic with a passion in this popular Kindle Unlimited book. Soon, a strange girl arrives, sent from the stars to witness miracles, but the mystery of her arrival is fraught with questions and a looming ending. This sensitive, dramatic novel from 2019 ultimately explores human bonds in lovely ways. Here are more of the best fiction books to read this year.
9. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Alex wakes up in the hospital as the sole survivor of a violent crime that left others dead. While still recovering, she’s offered a scholarship to Yale under mysterious circumstances and finds herself caught up in the prestigious school’s underground secret societies. She enters an occult world of bizarre magic in this riveting, crowd-pleasing fantasy from 2019. If this sounds right up your alley, chances are you’ll also want to take a bite out of these vampire books.
10. The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis
You may have seen the immensely popular Netflix series about a young chess champion. If you loved it, check out the novel it’s based on, which tells the story of Beth Harmon, an intrepid orphan who takes the international chess community by storm. Chess is the backdrop for a heroic tale of living through grief and strategizing a way through unimaginable loss.
11. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
Book 1 of the popular Southern Reach Trilogy follows the 12th expedition of settlers who attempt a journey to “Area X,” a mysterious island supposedly filled with both natural wonder and nightmares. Four women (a biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a surveyor) embark on the journey to the bizarre, dangerous terrain in this award-winning 2014 novel that’s perfect for fans of sci-fi and supernatural horror novels.
12. Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman
This mesmerizing LGBTQ book—which landed on numerous best-seller lists, won the Lambda Literary Award for Fiction, and was the basis for an Oscar-winning screenplay—follows a teenager whose parents host an American graduate student over a long summer. The two men fall in love, but they have to keep their affair a secret. This rhapsodic novel about first love set in a sumptuous Italian countryside manor along the Riviera will sweep you away.
13. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Kindle Unlimited includes the best-selling Wolf Hall, the first book in a trilogy about Thomas Cromwell, the ill-fated lawyer and statesman who served in the court of Henry the VIII in 1520s England. Hilary Mantel makes this work of historical fiction brim with political intrigue, intense characters, and lush historical details. Winner of the Man Booker Prize in 2009, Wolf Hall was adapted into a popular Masterpiece production on PBS. If you love British drama and sophisticated thrillers, this one’s definitely for you.
14. Vicious by V.E. Schwab
This addictive fantasy book from 2013 follows Victor and Eli, college students who figure out that near-death experiences can bring on out-of-this-world powers. The two start out as friends, but they turn into each other’s nemeses in this gritty, suspenseful adventure that’s perfect for readers who want great writing, an immersive plot, and a true escape from reality.
15. The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
Published in 2020, The Black Flamingo is a novel written in verse. You’ll find yourself falling for the innovative format that carries you through the experiences of Michael, a biracial teen raised by a single mom, as he grapples with his identity in London. Finally, he discovers the Drag Society and a whole new world opens its doors. This uplifting original novel, which won the Stonewell Book Award, dazzles and inspires.
16. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
If you love your fantasy books mixed with sci-fi settings and lesbian necromancers who fall in love over interplanetary epic sword-fighting, then Gideon the Ninth will be right up your alley. Filled with fantastic world-building, witty fun, unforgettable enemies, and romance, this thrilling caper from 2019 is a suspenseful fan favorite for those who love intergalactic adventure.
17. Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
This mega-hit from 2015 is perfect for readers of mysteries and can’t-put-’em-down thrillers. Follow Ani, a narrator whose voice drips with wit, as she carries out a major transformation. After harrowing events in high school, she’s set on reinventing herself and creating the perfect life, but you’ll soon discover what’s behind her superficial persona.
18. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Critics love the careful, mesmerizing prose in this Pulitzer Prize–winning best seller from 2004 about a man’s life and place in the world. The novel is written as a letter from a 76-year-old father, a reverend, to his 7-year-old son in 1956, and it recounts the father’s life, alongside nostalgic meditations and ruminations on his own history and the choices of those around him.
19. A Conspiracy of Mothers by Colleen van Niekerk
This 2021 debut novel tells the story of three mothers, from alternating perspectives, as they grapple with a missing daughter in 1994 South Africa. The young woman who has disappeared, Ingrid, is mixed race, proving a crime—her Black mother’s involvement with a White man—that another mother will do anything to keep hidden. This gripping tale that explores motherhood in the midst of agonizing racism is one of the Kindle Unlimited books you won’t be able to stop thinking about.
20. Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
Spider Man‘s Tom Holland is set to star in the film version of this true story set in Italy during World War II. Thinking he’ll be safer if he enlists in the German army, 18-year-old Nino winds up being the chauffeur for a high-ranking Nazi officer in this harrowing tale of the horrors of the era that was first published in 2017. While you wait for this one to hit the big screen, check out these other books that were made into movies.
21. Witchmark by C.L. Polk
A man born with a “witchmark” tries to hide his birthright, becoming a doctor rather than succumbing to using his powers to enrich his family in a corrupt society. Set in a post-war world resembling early-1900s London, this mystical love story is part sci-fi and part thriller as it pulls you into its intriguing land of magic and mystery. First published in 2018, this the first of three books in the popular series The Kingston Cycle.
22. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
In this sweet, ultra popular romance, you’ll find a nutty professor attempting to get a handle on what he calls the “wife problem.” To find a mate, he creates a project and survey, devoid of romance, but instead meets Rosie, a bartender who needs to figure out a project of her own.
23. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Narrated by a “murderbot,” this sci-fi thriller from 2017 is a multiple award winner and best seller that pulls you in from its first words. It’s a short book, spanning just over 150 pages, but it’s riveting as it takes you inside the mind of a cyborg that’s forced to commit violence by the company who programmed it. This quick read grapples with the big question around consciousness and what it means to live.
24. Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
This heart-wrenching and powerful memoir, first published in 1998, won the Pulitzer Prize. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s an endearing page-turner about author Frank McCourt’s life growing up Catholic and impoverished in Limerick, Ireland. McCourt manages to infuse heartbreak with humor and triumph in this addicting read that is guaranteed to make you cry.
25. Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salem
If you’re searching Kindle Unlimited books for great young adult novels, check out this 2020 best seller. The acclaimed, award-winning novel is told in verse, which is surprisingly accessible and dynamic, and it tells the story of 16-year-old Amal, a Black boy who wrongfully imprisoned for a crime against a White boy that he didn’t commit. This poetic work examines the justice system and discrimination in a captivating and powerful way that makes it one of most insightful books about racism you’ll read this year.
